“The parties must create a joint resolution to the situation,” said Peace Assembly of Turkey regarding the rising of tensions in the southeastern district of Cizre.
The series of events date back to December 26 when police teargassed a crowd that assembled to receive the funerals of 4 YPG fighter who were killed in Sinjar in Syria’s Kurdish-populated region.
Following that, two day long clashes between security forces with armed vehicles and stone-throwing demonstrators left Yasin Özer, Barış Dalmış and Abdullah Deniz dead.
Reminding that both parties considered the situation as “provocation”, the Peace Assembly said the following:
“Naming the killing of our youngsters as provocation is deepening the insecurity and anxieties. This attitude risks the abandoning of these deaths into darkness, as it happened before [in the 1990’s].”
Recommendations
Some of the recommendations of the assembly are as follows:
* Parties must inform the public directly and promptly within the Resolution Act. A joint statement must be made to inform the public on what happened in Cizre.
* All stakeholders must actively work in order to alleviate the worries of Cizre residents. Top-bureacrats must pay visits to the region and make first-person observations. They must listen to the witnesses and victims and work on to build trust.
* The perpetrators behind the killing of our citizens must not be left in the dark. The incident must not be seen as a provocation. Relevant measures must be taken immediately.
* In order for the Resolution Process to continue smoothly, peoples’ sensitivities must be considered. The bureaucrats that will be assigned to the region must be selected with caution. Those who face investigations must not be assigned. The [Kurdish] region must no longer be a place for exile. On the other hand, bureaucrat who will work on the region must be sent after being trained about peace processes like in developped countries. (EA/BM)
* Click here to read the article in Turkish.